CA1136906A - Device for setting up a vertical gyroscope - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for setting up a vertical gyroscope mounted on a mobile. According to the invantion, the action of roll restoring means is only suppressed with a delay time relative to the setting in rotation of the gyroscopic router, this delay time being such that at its expiration the angular moment of the spinning top is sufficient to ensure its stability and in that the erector system is only controlled in the direction of activation with another delay time necessary to reduce the precession movement of the device .

Description

- "11369 ~ 6 The present invantion relates to a positive di from mi ~ e to po ~ te dlun gyro ~ vertical cope.

By "setting a po ~ te" ~ we ent2nd the ~ ise in ~ onctctionement opéra-~ tional of said gyroscope.

The attention relates more particularly to gyroscopes for missiles, target missiles, and unmanned flying devices.

We know that a uHrt ~ wedge gyroscope or an artificial horizon d ~ sbronef essentially comprises a toup ~ e or symbolic mass of free revolution in rotation around a sxe, a m ~ ntage of suspen ~ ion of said axis relative to the support of said gyroscope, means of entrainment in rotation of said router, and means ~
transducers of the orientation of said axis, for example with respect to vertically. Said mounting of suopension contends audit axis, and therefore to the said top, a freedom of angular position total, or almost total, while maintaining ~ lxe the center of gravitb of the set compared to ~ upport.

When it does not rotate the router is therefore in equilibrium astatic and can occupy any angular position at the time of its launch in rotation. There is therefore reason to reset its position at this time, that is to say to bring its axis of that of the true vertical. The position "cal ~ e ~ 'or "recal ~ e" in the router corresponds to the calibrated z ~ ros of said transducer means.

This operation is dellcste to r ~ ali ~ er when the machine or a ~ ro ~
not ~ supporting the gyroscope s ~ t placed or temporarily fixed ~ on a mobile support and snine of random movements during the recycling the router ~, for example, when the gyro ~ cope ~ team a mi ~ firing island ~ from ~ a ship or a heliooptsre.

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- 1 ~ 36 ~ 06 This is why, especially in the case of use described above, two ~ l ~ menta are added to the gyroscopas:
- a mechanism that establishes a slight return torque in roll of the mobile assembly in raulis, when the router ~ at stop ~ and ~ e ~ action on the external frame which, for the next, con ~ idér ~ as a roll frame);
- And a m ~ canism ~ rector replasing said touple sutumatiquem0nt in vertical position as soon as it is entered ~ born by its motor means.

However ~ 18 ~ presence of the recall mechanism in rolls and m ~ canlsme ~ rector ns removes pss all dlfficult ~ s as this is explained below.

Aussl ~ to remedy these lnconvénlents, the disposltlf for the mlse à poste dlun vertlcale gyroscope mounted on a mobile and having a mass of revolution rotating around a sxe of rotation to serve as a vertical reference, means of suspension of the said masae enabling the axis of the axis to be suspended rotation relative to t ~ ngag ~ sxe and to the roll axis said moblle, means ~ oteurs to enter ~ ner ladlte mass of rotational revolution around its axis, of return means in roll dudlt axis of rotation acti ~ s when said masee does not turn and a mechanical pendulum erecting system entrs $ born, tending to automatically replace the rotatlon axis of the maase on the verticala, said motor means, ~ - ~ dita return means and said system ~ rector being electronically controlled tracing in parallel from a combined power source mune, is caract ~ riae in that it includes means for do not remove the action of ~ said means of rappsl in roll ~ only a ret ~ rd time relative to the mid ~ e of rotation of said mass, this tempa of retsrd being such that ~ its expirstion the moment

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11; ~ 69 ~ 6 kinetics of 18 rotating mass is sufficient to ensure ~ r the atabillté of it and in that it comprises ~ e ~ additional means permsttant not to order said 3rd system ~ rector only ~ avsc a time da delay with respect to the rotation of said mass of revolution t this delay tsmps being greater than that uses dsn ~ the commands ds ~ means of roll recall and ~ as as it expires the pendulum rotation and the moment cins-are sufficient to reduce the precessional movement of the gyro-scope around its roll axis.

The lines in the drawing annsx ~ will make it clear how llinven-'tion can be r ~ alises.

Figure 1 illustrates schematically the principle of known means ~
for the roll-back of the suspension crew of a router rotary of a gyroscopic device.

Figures 2 and 3 illu ~ trant schematically the principle of known erector means for automatically bringing said router in vertical pnsition as soon as it is entered ~ born by its drive means, the ~ Figures 2 and 3 respectively showing the axis of the router in vertical position and in position away from the vertical.

Figure 4 shows, in diametral section, an embodiment means erectors as ~ associated with a router and its bo ~ tier.

Figure 5 is a top view of the device of the figurs `4 st Figure 6 gives the block diagram of the control of the gyro according to the invention.

The gyroecopic device, of known type and shown ~ ur 1B ds ~ sin, has one toupiz 1, hell ~ ée in a case ~ st likely to be sntrained in rotation around its shaft 3 d ~ axis ZZ ~ oar a motor

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~ 3 ~ 906 electric 4 housed in said bo ~ tier (see ~ igure 4). The box 2 has aligned pins 5 and 6, it psrmet-both pivot around the tangsg- YY ~ axis of the vehicle (not shown) which has been mounted on said device gyroscopic.

The pins ~ 5 and 6 ~ ervsnt to articulate} A bo ~ tler 2 and ~ a router 1 on a frame 7, itself articulated around the axis roll ~ XX ~ of said vehicle. Frame 7 B _ 5 _ ~ 136906 is not shown in Figure 4.

Motor power and control connections 4 pass, in a known manner through the pins 5 and ~ of the YY 'axis and those (not shown) of the axis XX 'of the frame 7.

The roll suspension frame 7 is integral with a cylindrical cam ~ on which a roller 9 mounted free to rotate on an arm 10 articulated on an axis 11 secured to the housing 2 of said gyroscopic device.
The cam 8 is centered on the roll axis X-X '. A res-spell 12 hung between the end of the opposite arm 10 to the roller 9, and said housing tends to apply with a determined force the roller 9 against the surface operating of the cam (positio ~ in dots ~ s on the figure 1) . The shape of the cam 8 is such that when said roller 9 presses on its operative surface, the frame 7 is automatically brought back and maintained ~ horizontal relative to box 2 (zero roll). An electromagnet 13 is likely to suppress the action of the roller 9 when activated, attracting against its frame 13a the arm 10 supporting the roller 9. The frame 13a and the winding 13b are made integral with the housing 2 by a housing 14.

When the electro-magnet 13 is activated, the roll frame 7 is free and, consequently, the router 1 is free ~ also in roll. When deactivated, the roller 9 applies on cam 8 and reverts and remains said frame 7 and said router 1 ~ the relative horizontal position the machine supporting the gyroscopic arrangement.

In the known technique, the electromagnet 13 is activated ! in synchronism with the launch of the router by the engine 4.
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'. ','',,.',;'. `~ ~ ',,' 1 ~ 3 ~ 906 As a result, the restoring torque around the axis x-x ' is deleted ~ at the same time as the rotation of the router 1 and it appears very often a movement in s ~ irale of said router at the start, which has for inconvenient to let a large cart remain around the axis XX ', this deviation - which sometimes exceeds 50- can only be corrected later by work of the erector.

This spiral movement at start-up is caused by the component, around the axis XX ', of the torque of r ~ action of the router motor 4, this component being all the more more important than the ~ angular cart around the axis YY 'is important when powering up motor 4.
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As a result, the time required to set up a device vertical gyroscopic reaches ten minutes.

By introducing, in accordance with the present invention, a delay tl (about 3 seconds for example) before to release frame 7 of the gyroscope and after launching router 1, we remove the spiral movement at departure, thanks to the existence of the recall couple around of axis XX '; which prevents the initiation of this movement in spiral, while the kinetic moment is still too much weak to ensure the stability of the gyroscope. The difference, that is to say the galn on the setting time ~ item, is a very important parameter in the case an anti-ship weapon system for example, for which the system reaction time can be a para-decisive meter. We can say that the introduction of the delay tl on the same gyroscope passes the setting time about ten minutes ~ 2 minutes, which is an interesting concrete result.

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The advantage is even more noticeable in the case of reading the gyroscope on a carrier vehicle in oscillation movement with angular amplitudes important when starting the gyroscope (boat, plane or helicopter for example), because in this case, the resulting tilt at start around the axis XX 'can bring the gyroscope into a configuration where his erection system can be rendered ineffective or in any case, very ineffective, which leads ~ a prohibitive shift time, whereas, according to the invention, the gyroscope remains usable with time few minutes to post even with a stand with oscillation amplitudes of 30 around of the horizontal.

In Figures 2 ~ 5, there is illustrated an erector mechanism c ~ nnu for gyroscopic device, the device roll reminder 8 ~ 14, not being represented on ~
these figures.

. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, this mechanism ~ rec-vertical gyro device includes essentially, an unstable pendulum 15 hinged around of the axis of rotation ZZ 'of the router 1, this pendulum lnstable being driven in the same direction as the router 1 . by a reducer ~ gear 16 that is entered ~ do from shaft 3 and which rotates ~ speed constant of around 40 revolutions per minute, when the router : for example runs at 23,000 rpm, a counter weight 17 of shape similar to pendulum 1, articulated around of the same axis, and above all of equivalent mass, so to form a set with him, including the center of gra-. vity is located on the axis of rotation ZZ 'of the router, when the unstable pendulum 15 is aligned with the counter i ~ weight 17. This last case is carried out when the gyroscope ;,., ~ is stabilized ~ the vertical and the erection system ~. .
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~ _ a -~ ~. ,. . _ .. _. .. .. _ ; , 11369 ~ 6 then does not apply any torque to the gyroscope. It's the case illustrated ~ sch ~ atically by Figure 2.

In its plane of rotation, perpendicular to the axis of rotation ZZ 'of the router 1, the unstable pendulum 15 has a freedom of angular movement between, on the one hand, a drive stop ~ ment 18 which positions it ~ alignment with its counterweight 17, and, on the other share, a stop before 19 which limits its free travel in the direction of the system's rotational movement gyroscopic.

In this last pendulum position (see Figure 3) the erection system, no longer balanced, applies a couple with the gyroscopic device, which has for result of straightening the axis of rotation ZZ 'towards the vertical position VV 'if it were ~ cart ~.

Indeed, we see in Figure 3 that in case of tilt of the axis of rotation ZZ 'of the gyroscope, from the crossing from the highest point of the line of greatest slope, the unstable pendulum 15 falls against its stop before 19 and then stays there until the crossing of lowest point of the line of greatest slope of the plane of rotation. At this low point, he waits for the passage of his rear drive end 18 which forces it to run the next half-cough (uphill m) ~ constant speed 40 revolutions per minute imposed by the engine assembly 4 -r ~ conductor 16; after which the phenomenon begins again at each turn of the erector, and ~ each turn the pendulum 15 goes down (down d) so faster than it go up on the other side.

We see that the resulting torque applied to the gyroscope (by this difference between the durations of descent d and to mount the pendulum) always has a rectifying effect ,,.
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113 ~ 906 '' on average over a lap, that is, it tends to each turn to reduce the difference between the axis of rotation ZZ 'and the vertical vV ~

To facilitate the representation of FIG. 3, we have assumed a large deviation around the internal axis Y-Y ' only; of course, the erection system acts ~ from a very low inclination even lower ~
at 0.1 and on the other hand, the rectifier effect remains . valid for any tilt orientation by relative to the vertical and in particular in the case of a compound inclination around the two axes of sus-pension YY 'and XX' at the same time.

In practice, the operation is as follows (see Figures 4 and 5):
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In the absence of current in an integral coil 20 of the case 2. and concentric with the axis Z-Z ', a spring 21 maintains a ratchet 22 in its low posltlon for which he blocks the unstable pendulum 15 against his rear stop 18; the erection system only applies then no couple on the gyroscope since the center of gravity of the whole suspended assembly is at meeting point of the two suspension axes including the internal axis is Y-Y '.

When the coil 20 is supplied under sufficient voltage to cause the attraction of the mobile pallet linked to the ratchet 22, this one. comes to occupy the high position . shown in Figure 4 and the unstable pendulum 15 then finds its freedom ~ of angular movement, this which allows the erector to operate. The putting under tension of the coil thus makes it possible to control the setting ; .. ~ in operation of the erector of the gyroscope.

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113 ~; 906 Of course, the power connections ~ ion of the coil 20 are routed to the outside of the suspension of the gyroscope passing successively by pins 5 and 6 of the internal axis Y-Y ', then by the pins (not shown) of the axis of suspension X-X '.

With such a known ~ rector mecani ~ ue, it is advantageous according to the invention, for putting ~ post of gyroscope, to only command the erection with a delay t2 on engine 4 start-up of router 1, this delay t2 must be quite large to allow the erector to rotate ~ a speed sufficient.

Without this delay t2, in fact, the unstable pendulum 15 (which turns extremely slowly at the start of the start of the router ~ could be, for a while not negligible, in a positlon where it would exert a significant enough couple on the gyroscope, which does not would still be that of a very weak cin ~ tlque moment;
in this case, the gyroscope could reach a ~ osition very difficult - or even impossible - ~ then correct by the erector, following a rapid precession around the axis XX 'of suspension.

With the delay t2, on the contrary, the ~ rector being neutral read, no unbalance torque is exerted on the gyroscope for the corresponding time and there is no s ~ sults therefore no annoying precession.

For a router reaching its maximum speed after a 90 second time, you can choose t2 ~ gal ~ 30 seconds.

~ a figure 6 gives the block diagram of the command of the gyroscope according to the invention.
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. `-,. ... ,. '' '''. . ''. '~:'.: ''''' ~ 136906 ~ no power supply 23 is active ~ by a command 24. Said power supply is connected in parallel:

-to the motor 4 of the router 1 of the gyroscope, - to the electromagnet 13 deactivating the return torque in roll of the suspension of said router by via a timed relay 25 for example at 3 seconds - to the activation electromagnet 20 of the rector, via a time relay 26, for example-full at 30 seconds.

Thus, when the power supply 23 is activated by the control 24, it delivers a current to the motor 4 of the router 1, pUi5 has the electromagnet 13 deactivating the torque roll reminder with 3 seconds delay, then at the activating electromagnet 20 of said erector with 30 seconds delay.

This then results in an operation allowing reduce the time it takes to set up the gyroscope in large proportions (2 minutes instead of 10 minutes), 2 ~ result usually obtained with very ~
sophisticated ~ whose price can reach twenty times that of a material including the equipment according to the invention.

The device according to the invention can be easily mounted on any gyroscope not intended to receive it, and especially on simple commercial gyroscopes pr ~ sen-originally a prohibitive shift time for use on missiles.

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Claims (2)

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE INVENTION ABOUT WHICH A RIGHT
EXCLUSIVE OF OWNERSHIP OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED, ARE
DEFINED AS FOLLOWS: 1. Vertical gyroscope mounted on a mobile and com-carrying a mass of revolution rotating around an axis of rotation to serve as a vertical reference, means of suspension of said mass for suspending said axis of rotation with respect to the pitch axis and the roll axis of the said axis mobile, motor means for driving said mass of revolution in rotation about its axis and means for returning said roll axis of rotation active when said mass does not rotate, a mechanical erector system with driven rotary pendulum, tending to automatically replace the axis of rotation of the mass on the said motor means, said return means and said erector system being electrically controlled in parallel from a common power source; a first delay device disposed on the link between said source and said means of roll reminder to produce a first delay such as when it expired-tion the angular momentum of said rotating mass is sufficient to ensure its stability, a second device to delay arranged on the link between said source and said system erector to produce a second delay such as at its expiration the pendulum's speed of rotation is sufficient to avoid any precession of the device around its roll axis. 2. The gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the time of said second delay is greater than that of said first delay.